Docking stations (or “docks”) have been developed for portable computers that facilitate connecting the portable computers to peripherals components. For instance, a dock provides convenient connections for a portable computer at a generally fixed location (e.g., office, home, automobile, hotel, airplane, etc.) and typically is connected to a wide variety of devices, such as mice, printers, keyboards, displays, network cables, telephone cables, speakers, AC power adapters, security locks, additional media drives, etc. Once the portable computer is docked with the docking station, it can access the device(s) the docking station is connected to without making additional connections. It will readily be appreciated that when a portable computer is connected to a docking station, the benefits of a desktop system are afforded to the user while maintaining the flexibility the user has to take the portable computer with him on the road.
As recognized herein, users of portable computer systems can experience difficulty attaching the portable computers to a docking station (dock) or port replicator. Furthermore, recent portable computer designs have required the docking connector be on the bottom of the computer rather than on the rear, complicating docking even more by requiring a more difficult “drop-down” action rather than the user-preferred “slide-in” action when docking the computer. Despite the addition of various visual cues, many users still find it difficult to navigate this “drop-down” action. Misalignment when docking can cause damage to the docking connector (on both the computer and the dock) and can frustrate the user.
As understood herein, providing visual cues or guide rails/slots on the dock are less than optimum solutions. With more specificity, visual cues can be difficult to implement and often are difficult and frustrating for the user to employ. Indeed, if the user has a monitor stand or other desktop obstacles, he may not be able to use any visual cues at all. With respect to guide rails or slots on the dock, as understood herein such dock structure limits that dock to accepting only a particular size of computer, when a flexible solution is preferred so that various portable computers of various sizes can use a common dock.